The Technology

Overview

Housed in a standard container, the Sonic Cavitation Generator uses mechanical ultrasound to create and harness cavitation in a controlled environment.  Cavitation produces flash temperatures nearing 10,000°F.  Dr. Victor Glotov’s invention focuses on mechanical ultrasound and cavitation, and more specifically how to create and control cavitation to take advantage of the incredible energy inherent within this naturally occurring phenomenon for hyper-purification of all material passing through the SonCav Generator.

Here is a look to Wikipedia for a simplified definition of cavitation:

Cavitation is the formation of vapor cavities in a liquid – i.e. small liquid-free zones (“bubbles” or “voids”) – that are the consequence of forces acting upon the liquid. It usually occurs when a liquid is subjected to rapid changes of pressure that cause the formation of cavities where the pressure is relatively low. When subjected to higher pressure, the voids implode and can generate an intense shockwave.  Cavitation is a significant cause of wear in some engineering contexts. Collapsing voids that implode near to a metal surface cause cyclic stress through repeated implosion….  [C]avitation occurs in nature in the strikes of mantis shrimps and pistol shrimps, as well as in the vascular tissues of plants….  Non-inertial cavitation is the process in which a bubble in a fluid is forced to oscillate in size or shape due to some form of energy input, such as an acoustic field….  Since the shock waves formed by collapse of the voids are strong enough to cause significant damage to moving parts, cavitation is usually an undesirable phenomenon. It is very often specifically avoided in the design of machines such as turbines or propellers, and eliminating cavitation is a major field in the study of fluid dynamics. However, it is sometimes useful and does not cause damage when the bubbles collapse away from machinery, such as in supercavitation.

A rendering of a bubble implosion.

Cavitating bubbles spinning off.

Damage from cavitation.

Cavitation, at its instant of implosion, releases incredible energy, including heat nearing 5,000°C.  High power ultrasound (above 1MWt/cm2) is capable of breaking molecular bonds to their basic state, causing molecular reactions in “normal” temperatures through a huge transformation of energy.  It is this joint use of ultrasound and cavitation that allows the SonCav Generator to process and treat liquids, yielding 100% pure H2O, and decontaminated dry “dust”, from which salt, rare earth elements and other minerals can be recovered.

There are two videos we found on cavitation that are particularly enlightening. The first is incredible imagery at 27,000 frames per second, unintentionally capturing the power that is cavitation on film. It is part of a fantastic series on You Tube called Smarter Every Day, hosted by a gentleman named Destin. You can visit the series here: http://www.youtube.com/SmarterEveryDay. The whole video is super-interesting, but it’s 10 minutes long; you can fast forward to 4:30 to start seeing the underwater fireworks. Pay particular attention to the expansion, then fast contraction, of the bubbles, until they explode again. Also cool is the light flashing, and noticing how the bullet when leaving the shaft at first slows down, but then speeds up.

“Smarter Every Day” filming of an AK-47 shot underwater, capturing cavitation at 27,000 frames per second.

This second video is a short presentation on sololuminesence by Professor Seth Putterman of the University of California at Los Angeles.  Here they attempt to comprehend the heat levels at the core of a cavitating bubble.  It is interesting that sonoluminescence is likely the explanation for the light flashes from the Smarter Every Day video.

“The Star in the Jar” video by Prof. Seth Putterman, discussing sololuminesence.

For a more detailed explanation of the technology, and a description of the process flow, please